Short Films This Week (7.29.13)

This week, we’ve got one of the best short film collections I’ve ever seen. Check out the incredible quality of these animated and live action shorts.

1. PostHuman

Tricia Helfer of Battlestar Galactica lends her voice to this award-winning, animated scifi short. Beware: this one is most definitely NSFW, with some extreme violence, gore, language, and nudity. It also plops you down in the middle of a cyberpunk world without explaining what’s going on, and expects you to keep up. But it’s totally worth it, scoring for style, originality, intelligence, intensity, and some truly great scifi storytelling.

2. Agent Carter title sequence

Here’s the super cool end credits/title sequence for the “Agent Carter” short film that premiered last week at Comic-Con, as produced by PerceptionNYC. Marvel’s One-Shot “Agent Carter” will be included on the Iron Man 3 Blu-ray.

3. The Flying Man

In the real world, would a superhero be altruistic? Or would he have his own agenda? If power corrupts, what does superpower do? This smart, stylish thriller reveals a mysterious man to the world who has the ability to fly. But his actions are not those of a hero. Or are they? The Flying Man is a rare treat.

4. Airlords of Airia

Weak acting, subpar dialogue — which isn’t helped by dubbed English voices over German actors — but the scale and scope of this fully realized world, complete with its own history and mythology, is just fantastic. The effects work is pretty darn good, but it’s the production design of this steampunk world that steals the show. The steam-powered cars, the winged bronze aircraft with their folding wings, the floating cities. It’s pure, joyous eye candy. Oh, and it’s got a great soundtrack, too.

5. Runaway

You may find it hard to believe at first, but this is 100% computer animation. The old man, named Ernest, is completely CGI, along with everything else in this “dystopic future” piece.

6. The Monk and the Monkey

An animated short film by a talented animator, made as a school assignment. He now works for DreamWorks Animation, and most recently is credited on Madagascar 3.

7. One Last Dive

Brace yourself for a terrifying one minute short about free-diving.

8. Azul

Passengers on a partying cruise ship are washed ashore on a strange, tropical island. As they explore their surroundings, the mystery of this island like no other is slowly revealed.